Cars Spinoff Planes Gets A 2013 Release Date

You probably know that the Cars universe has been extremely lucrative for the Walt Disney Company. Beyond the two movies created by Pixar, Cars has inspired a massive merchandising system that slaps Lightning McQueen, Mater and the residents of Radiator Springs on everything from lunchboxes to backpacks to coloring books. The franchise does very well on the ground. Can it succeed in the air as well?

Walt Disney looks prepared to find out. The studio announced today that the Cars spinoff, Planes, will now be coming to theaters on August 9, 2013. That wasn’t the initial plan. Planes was supposed to go straight to DVD via direct-to-home video release. The studio’s acknowledging that it builds on the world established in Cars and Cars 2 as it follows Dusty, a small-time plane that – stop me if this sounds familiar – wants to enter an around-the-world air race.

Um, wasn’t that the plot of Cars 2, for the most part?

Jon Cryer will voice Dusty in the animated feature from director Klay Hall. While we’re hesitant to full embrace a movie that’s spinning off of a franchise that we kind of felt ran out of gas with the sequel (Cars 2 was a disappointment), the news that Disney believes in Planes enough to send it to theaters has to mean something. Plus, the last time a Pixar film was supposed to go to home video but was spared at the last minute, we were treated to Toy Story 2 … perhaps the best film in Pixar history. Look for Planes when it flies into theaters next August.